Crimson
by zflowersenpai
Summary: A magician, an heir, a prince. Who is Ichijou Masaki? And what is a magician? Everyone faces challenges of their own.
1. Prologue

**Update 8/5/2015**

**i may/may not decide to merge this story with my other Third High fic, but just a heads up, this story will probably be integrated into the other one to give a "complete" third high series**

* * *

**i dont own mahouka**

* * *

Striding down the hallways of Third High School, it was impossible for him not to notice the furtive glances thrown his direction and the nervous whisperings as he passed by his fellow students. It was understandable. Most of them had never seen a battlefield. Or two people trying to kill each other. Or even a dead body for that matter.

Ichijou Masaki chuckled to himself.

_Who finds a dead body to be normal, or killing another human? But then again, we're magicians._

* * *

**4 YEARS AGO: SADO**

The sounds of gunfire and artillery shells filled the air. Smoke and ash choked everyone around and the taste of dirt filled everyone's mouths. Many of the surrounding buildings had collapsed under continuous pounding from enemy fire and rubble filled the streets. A few civilians huddled underneath fallen structures, caught in the ambush.

Ichijou Masaki crouched behind the charred remains of a van, CAD in hand. He gritted his teeth.

_This wasn't what I was expecting when I volunteered for this._

Masaki had always heard stories from his grandfather of World War III. It had always sounded so heroic, beating back invaders, securing safety for the rest of the country. In his head he had imagined adventure and glory.

He found the reality of war to be much different.

War was nothing more than two sides trying to annihilate each other for the sake of survival. There was no heroism in this. No glory. Just death. Kill or be killed.

_So this is what it is to be a magician._

Masaki felt a lull in the gunfire overhead. Deploying his Interference Armor, he took a breath and stood up, revealing his position. He leveled his CAD at one of the soldiers, and pulled the trigger. The man swelled unnaturally and suddenly exploded in a cloud of red, showering his comrades with blood and staining the ground red.

Rupture. The deadly Dispersal-type magic that instantly vaporizes all fluids in a given target. Seeing it in action was a terrible blow to the morale of the enemy assailants, and even more so seeing that its wielder was little more than a child.

The enemy soldiers attempted to take Masaki down with a few bursts from their assault rifles, but his Interference Armor intercepted the bullets. He pulled the trigger several more times, each invocation of Rupture whittling the ranks of the enemy down.

Masaki dropped to the ground, panting for breath and trying not to retch. Before today he had never actually killed anyone. But as of today, his hands had been stained with blood. In the end it didn't matter that his victims were of a different nationality from him; one dead person was the same as another.

_Dammit Masaki! Get it together! You are a magician! This is what you were born to do!_

Slowly his breathing stabilized.

_You can think about the moral ramifications later. Now is the time to fight._

* * *

_It's been a while since I've thought of that battle._

Masaki had arrived about 45 minutes early to school, and he didn't quite want to go to class yet. He had much to think about with all that had happened within the past few days, and as a member of the 10 Master Clans, he had been in the thick of it.

_Scorched Halloween._

That event was what started it all. The global community was in a uproar. And it all came back to the weapons widely known as magicians. This event only served to remind most of the globes population that they were at the mercy of unknown powers. No other country had a way to defend against a force like that.

He was surprised to find that he had wandered into Third High's library. Though not as extensive as their rival's, First High's, as a high school affiliated with the National Magic University, its database was not too shabby.

Masaki took a seat and then logged in using his identity as a member of the 10 Master Clans. Hopefully that would give him access to more data. He sat back and stared at the terminal for a few seconds, thinking about explosion that day. He remembered a similar one a few years back. Okinawa, was it?

"Computer, pull up records in the past 4 years relating to battles at and around Okinawa."

Masaki scanned through the pages. It was surprisingly sparse, but one caught his attention.

"Great Asian Alliance. As I thought, the same explosion."

Parsing through the rest of the page, he only gleaned a few bits of information. Something about an 'Ooguro Ryuuya', though no mention of the spell used.

He leaned back in his chair. "Mahesvara". He had heard that word several times when watching over the captured soldiers at China Street. Some of them visibly flinched during the blast of the vessel.

Masaki sighed and his thoughts drifted back to the past.

* * *

Masaki broke cover, sprinting towards a cluster of enemy assailants hiding behind a felled building.

"Sh-"

The soldiers didn't even have time to finish their thoughts.

Leaping to the top of the rubble, Masaki swung his CAD in a semicircle around himself, targeting all the soldiers in his radius. Each trigger pull was accompanied by a desperate yell and a grotesque burst of bloody mist. Finished eradicating another pocket of enemy combatants, Masaki took cover where his enemies once had.

After several times of doing this, he had learned to ignore the mutilated corpses and splayed body parts across the battlefield. He barely noticed his once black battle suit was splattered and stained with the blood of his victims.

The rest of the squad joined him in his makeshift bunker. He felt the unconscious looks of his fellow soldiers glancing from the dead bodies to him and back again.

_I suppose that would be a normal reaction._

A terminal buzzed and one of the soldiers answered. After exchanging a few terse words with the other end, he turned to the rest of the squad.

"The north coast needs backup; we're heading over that wa-."

Machine gun fire broke overhead, ripping the soldier into ribbons.

"GET DOWN!" Masaki yelled, deploying a barrier out of magic to cover the rest of the soldiers from overhead fire.

_Dammit!_

This was a problematic situation; the plane was flying too fast for him to target and shield the soldiers at the same time.

The plane exploded in a fireball, crashing into a strip of dirt a few blocks over. Masaki turned to see a figure standing atop a ridge, CAD in hand. Ichijou Gouki, Masaki's father.

Leaping across to Masaki's group of soldiers, Ichijou Gouki walked up to him.

"Good job shielding your men...and I'm glad you're safe." His father paused for a moment, scanning his team, "Since your squad leader was taken out, your group will be joining up with mine." The head of the Ichijou clan turned to the rest of the fighters. "We're heading towards the north shore. Take a break, we'll be up in 3."

Masaki climbed up next to his father, who decided to have taken a watch at the top of some debris.

"Otou-san, how is the fight going?"

There was a grim look on his father's face.

"The battle itself is going well, but the initial surprise attack cost too many civilian casualties. We're finding people throughout the battle field, so if you find someone, first priority is to get them away from this warzone."

His father turned back to the soldiers.

"We're moving. Let's go."

Not bothering with cover, he strode off into the battlefield. After a moment, Masaki followed.

* * *

Masaki made his way down the hallway.

_Ooguro Ryuuya. I vaguely remember my father saying something about this guy at a family meeting. He's an unregistered Strategic if I remember correctly. Real identity unreleased to the public or even the 10 Master Clans. A person like this...could destroy the world. It doesn't seem like the explosion is limited in size given the battleship and Zhenghai Naval Port suffered the same fate yet on drastically different scales. _

Ooguro Ryuuya. The Great Black Dragon. Masaki couldn't help but feel a little self-conscious.

_What power…_

_But being a magician isn't all about power._

* * *

The enemy was laying down a heavy barrage of bullets. Not that it mattered.

Ichijou Masaki raised his CAD and triggered Rupture in quick succession, obliterating the enemy force.

"All clear."

The fight for Sado was pretty much over, with just a few small clusters of enemy combatants still holding out in pockets in the rubble of the city.

Masaki stood on a piece of concrete the jutted out unnaturally. It gave him a good view of the city. Or of what was left of the city.

What once was a picturesque small community by the coast had turned into a wasteland of ash and fire, the stench of blood filling the hot air.

Masaki ground his teeth in frustration.

_Why? Why did this need to happen?_

He had overheard his father talking with some of the other higher ups. Apparently the New Soviet Union had wanted a piece of Japan; synchronizing their attack with another invasion attempt at Okinawa, or so he had heard.

Masaki sat down heavily leaving back against what appeared to be a piece of sidewalk that had been overturned. He closed his eyes for a few seconds, trying to regain some strength after expending his psions in the fight.

He heard some coughing; Masaki whipped his CAD around searching for the source. He was the only one in this vicinity; where did that come from?

Silence.

He proceeded to put the CAD away when he heard it again.

_Is that coming from...underneath?_

Masaki got on his stomach, peering beneath one of the collapsed buildings. Someone shuffled and a gasped for breath.

_There's someone underneath here!_

Masaki began shifting through the rubble trying to remove it.

_It's no good! It's too heavy and I don't have any way of moving it!_

Grabbing his terminal, he yelled into it.

"OTOU-SAN! THERE'S SOMEONE UNDERNEATH THE RUBBLE OVER HERE!"

A few seconds passed and a figure dropped from the air to land beside him; his father.

Making a few adjustments, Ichijou Gouki pointed the CAD at the rubble and activated his magic. All the debris flew outward from the epicenter, revealing the figure of a young boy, probably Masaki's age, lying in the dirt. He coughed a few times, but it was evident he was unconscious and that he needed immediate medical treatment.

"Stay here with him, son. I'm getting a medic." His father activated a magic and leaped away.

The boy groaned, obviously in pain. Masaki sat by him and took his hand.

"You're going to be ok. We're here to get you out."

Masaki wasn't sure what to do, but he kept talking to the boy. The boy's black hair shifted and his eyes opened revealing dark red irises.

"...where...what…"

"Don't talk, just rest."

The boy closed his eyes and his breathing slowed. Masaki stayed by his side until the paramedics arrived.

* * *

_What is a magician?_

Masaki strolled towards Class 1-A. That was the thought that had haunted him since that day. The recent events brought it to new light for him to consider.

He remembered all that he had done since Sado. The training, the fights, Yokohama.

_To be a magician means to walk with death. It means to wield extraordinary power for a higher purpose._

Masaki rounded the corner and walked into the classroom.

_It means to sacrifice your humanity for the cause when others can't._

As soon as he walked in a voice called out to him.

"Masaki!"

_It means we have the power to take life._

Masaki turned with a smile towards his best friend, Kichijouji Shinkurou, also known as Cardinal George. The boy he found all those years back in Sado.

_But it also means we can save it._

* * *

**some of the side characters of mahouka dont get enough love. dont get me wrong, i love the main characters, but i just wanted to explore some of the supporting ones.**

**i tried to expand on the background of masaki and ask some of the more philosophical questions given that magicians are pretty much killing machines.**

**actually ive been wanting to do a sort of mini series following the third high characters, maybe this will be a prequel or something.**

**anyways, thanks for reading this, if u have any comments/ideas, feel free to message me and review!**

**thanks and see yall next time!**


	2. Chapter 1

"Someone care to explain what's going on here?..."

"I-Ichijou-san! N-Nothing! Everything's fine!"

Masaki sighed.

As a member of the Public Morals Committee, he had been walking around the campus doing his rounds after school; a commotion had drawn him over to one of the outdoor practice fields. It just so happened that both the archery club and the shooting club had wanted to use the field at the same time.

_And here I was hoping to have an uneventful day…_

Striding up to the two club presidents, he hoped to be able to have a peaceful settlement, but the two parties visibly took a few steps back when approached.

"I-It's no problem! The shooting club can use it today! We'll hold practice here tomorrow!"

"Nonono! Archery can use the field! We really didn't need to use it anyway!"

Masaki could only sigh as the argument turned into a competition between the two trying to get the other club to use the field.

"I guess, if you two are working it out, I don't have to report this, right?"

Masaki walked off the field leaving behind the two clubs babbling their consent and thanks.

* * *

Putting away his armband and video recorder, Masaki was in the process of checking out of the office when another person walked into the room.

"How did it go?"

Recognizing the voice Masaki could only sigh.

"Same thing as yesterday...well, at least it makes my job easier"

Kichijouji leaned against the wall.

"How's Student Council coming along? Getting used to being Vice President?"

Kichijouji scoffed.

"It's incredibly dry. Monitoring students' progress, making sure the clubs have all the supplies they need. Nine Schools will be here before we know it so we've already started looking into picking athletes for the Official division. On top of that…"

He sent a glare towards Masaki who was trying to hold in his mirth.

"Why are you laughing? You're the one that set me up for this," George continued with an annoyed look, "And besides, how did I end up in this position and not you? You were the freshman representative, yet here you are in the Public Morals Committee while I'm handling all the paperwork. How did you ever convince me that this would be a good idea…"

Kichijouji's rant tapered off into a mumbling under his breath. Masaki placed a comforting hand on his friend's shoulder.

"Well, since it seems like you're pretty stressed out, why don't we hit that corner coffee shop and relax for a bit. My treat."

The edges of Kichijouji's frown turned upward slightly in amusement.

"Well, if you insist, I can't very well turn you down, now can I?"

* * *

The two of them spent a good two hours at the cafe talking and laughing. It had been too long since they had the opportunity to act like high school students. It seemed like most of the time, their status as magicians prevented them from experiencing life as normal people. The topics ranged from magic theory to high school drama; Kichijouji managed to change the topic to Shiba Miyuki, making Masaki blush for a good thirty minutes. Somehow, Kichijouji found himself invited over to the Ichijou's residence for dinner.

"Shinkurou-kun, it's been a while since you lasted visited us."

The family was currently sitting around the dinner table, with Kichijouji positioned next to Masaki and across from Akane, Masaki's younger sister; Ichijou Gouki, the head of the clan, sat at the head of the table and was engaging in conversation with him.

"You should come over more often," pouted Akane.

"Now, now. Shinkurou-kun is probably busy with school and research," reprimanded Ichijou Midori, Masaki's mother.

"George is looking into identifying another Cardinal Code," added Masaki, "If he's not doing Student Council work, he's down at the lab."

"Oh? That sounds interesting," Gouki said, sounding impressed, "Have you identified which one you're researching?"

"I'm not certain, but since the rudimentary structure of the sequence is similar to the 'Weight' code I published a few years ago, I think it will be 'Speed', 'Weight's' counterpart," George replied. "But it'll still take lots of refinement. It'll be a miracle to produce a prototype of the sequence by the time we graduate from Third High."

"If anyone can do it, it'll be you," Akane pronounced confidently, "Unlike Nii-san, who just stays in the family training hall. Why can't you be smart like Shinkurou-kun?"

"Hey! Should you be saying that to your older brother?!" Masaki voiced indignantly.

"It's not my fault you you aren't smart!"

The back-and-forth between the two siblings, despite the insults, remained good natured; their father looked on amusedly as their mother tried to calm the two down. Kichijouji smiled at the exchange.

* * *

_Even though I never got to experience this with my own family, I'm glad that I got the chance with the Ichijous._

After sending Kichijouji back to his dorm, Masaki crashed on his bed, staring up at the ceiling. He hadn't bothered to take off his uniform; he would have to get one of the HARs to wash and iron it before school tomorrow.

_The life of a magician…_

Masaki forced himself off his bed and situated himself in front of his terminal.

_No matter what's happened, Otou-san won't like it if I don't go over some of these reports_.

His preparation to become the next head of the Ichijous was training that never ended. He scrolled through several pages of observations from their agents throughout Japan; he paid particular attention to the ones dealing with Tokyo, where the Yotsuba, Saegusa and Juumonji were located. Most of it seemed unimportant. The search for the identity of the Strategic-class magician that activated that explosion was still fruitless with the leads running out.

Masaki scanned through the pages, flipping through observations, voice recordings and records. His eyes landed on a memo coupled with a few autopsy reports. A few deaths here and there were nothing of note, but for this to draw the attention of the Ichijou information network must have been pretty out of the ordinary. He looked over the autopsy reports.

_Interesting. No signs of assault or wounds. Each body was found with almost no blood..._

He cross referenced the information and found several other autopsies scattered throughout the files, the oldest of which was about a month ago.

_Right after that incident._

He made a mental note to ask about the reports tomorrow.

* * *

"Yefrem! How's the prototype coming along?"

The young man sitting in front of the screen momentarily stopped his tapping at the keyboard and threw a glance backwards. The glare of the monitor reflected off his pale blue eyes.

"Michail. About time you checked in. It's taking longer than we longer than anticipated. Understanding the magic sequence is no problem. It's the rearranging of the sequence that's taking the time. You sure we can't get any more info from that researcher?"

Michail leaned against the wall next to Yefrem. The taller man crossed his beefy arms shook his head.

"I'm not sure he has much left to say. I think he's about to snap; I'd say he's outlived his usefulness."

Yefrem sighed and turned back to the monitor.

"Well, if we hope to have a working model of this wide-range Dispersal-type magic ready for weaponization, we'll have to take another look at that 'Rupture' sequence we got off of him."

* * *

"Concentrate Masaki!"

Masaki responded with a flurry of blows, which were in turn answered with parries of his trainer. He growled in frustration.

"If I was using my naginata (1), this match would have been over long ago."

Hideki frowned. As one of the few servants employed by the Ichijou family, his job was to train the clan's children in non-magical combat.

"I agree that your lance would have great effectiveness in a situation with multiple opponents, but sometimes there's simply not enough room to wield such a lengthy weapon. In those cases, that wakizashi would be more effective in a close combat range. Now come again."

Raising the sword, Masaki rushed in again. Against Hideki's katana, it was difficult to get close enough to strike since he was being kept at a distance with the other sword's long reach. Hideki swung his sword deftly, attempting to take advantage of Masaki's right-handedness by bringing it towards his left side. Masaki spun around and intercepted the blow near the hilt and drive his left elbow towards Hideki's chest. Hideki's left palm caught it and, deflecting Masaki's wakizashi (2), brought the blade to his neck.

"Checkmate again. You're too reckless with your attacks. You have to think before you attack."

Glancing at the clock Hideki added, "Training is over for today; you have to get ready for school."

* * *

Masaki made it to school with plenty of time to spare. The thirty minute walk was reduced to less than 5 minutes with some magic. He nearly fell asleep during the first few periods of the day; the teacher was discussing the Loop Cast principle and how to optimize spells using it. He was already familiar with the specifics, so he kept himself preoccupied by performing a system check up on his CAD. As a member of the 10 Master Clans and the Public Morals committee, he was allowed to have a CAD with him at all times. By the time they were dismissed for lunch, he had performed three system cleanings on both his handgun and bracelet CADs; he had never been so thankful to hear that bell.

He met up with Kichijouji in the lunchroom at their usual table off to the side. He was reading through a few papers; to the outside observer it would just look like strings of letters and numbers but Masaki recognized bits and pieces of activation and magic sequences scattered through the page.

Without looking up, Kichijouji began engaging in conversation.

"You hear about what happened last night?"

"What happened?"

"It seems a body was found. Police aren't sure of cause of death, but they're saying it's blood loss."

Masaki frowned thinking back to the reports.

"Is it an isolated incident?"

"Well, its the first one Ishikawa, but I hear there's been several deaths over in Tokyo."

Masaki remained silent; Kichijouji looked up at a lack of response.

"You know something don't you?"

"I'm not sure, and I haven't had the chance to talk to my father about it. But I think it has something to do with Yokohama, and if so, then the Ten are inevitably going to get involved."

"So you might have to look in to this."

Masaki shrugged.

"It's no use worrying about it for now. I'll go wherever otou-san needs me."

* * *

Masaki performed his after school rounds distractedly; with all the events happening and no answers to any of the questions, if was difficult to focus. Maybe it because of his preoccupied mind, he was unconsciously drawn towards one of the small gyms. It seemed the kenjutsu clubs was using the facility. The sounds of shinai striking and the flashes of magic were hypnotic and soothing. He decided to take a break and watch the club practice for a bit; he took a seat on one of the bleachers.

He wasn't sure how long he sat there, but after a while he was aware of another presence that had taken a seat next to him. Masaki glanced over, immediately recognizing her; the newcomer was a petite girl, her long blond hair tied back in two ponytails on each side of her head.

"Isshiki-san. I didn't know you were into kenjutsu; I thought you preferred fencing."

The girl shrugged.

"Third High doesn't have a fencing club, and kenjutsu incorporates magic, unlike the kendo club. And why are you calling me by my family name?"

Masaki's lips turned up slightly at that question.

"I don't know, Airi. I thought you liked being identified as one of the 28; isn't that the reason why you don't associate with anyone outside the Numbered Families?"

"Hmph. That was then. I've changed, at least a little."

Masaki remembered that he wasn't the only one that had suffered their first defeat at Nine Schools. First High had been quite the formidable opponent.

"Aren't you supposed to be practicing?"

"Shouldn't you be doing your rounds?"

Masaki opened his mouth to object then closed it when he saw she was smirking. He sighed.

_I've been sighing too much these past few days…_

"Why don't you spar for a bit? It might make you feel better."

Masaki raised an eyebrow.

"Is that ok? I mean, I'm not on the club."

Airi flashed a brilliant smile.

"I don't think that should be a problem given your reputation. People clear a path if you even so much as look in a direction."

* * *

That was how Masaki found himself facing down half the kenjutsu team. He had been handed a shinai, but instead he picked up one of the staves lying in the storage room.

_It's not my naginata, but it'll do._

He allowed himself to be lost in the movements. Spinning his makeshift spear at blindingly fast speeds, he deflected shinai coming at him from all directions, parrying and jabbing. One of the club members tried using self-acceleration to rush him, but he countered by plunging one end of the staff into the ground and vaulting over the assailant. Rotating his body midair, Masaki swung the staff in an arc, hitting him in the back and laying him out flat.

That was what he liked about the spear. It was a versatile weapon, perfect for surprising your opponent. He felt that a sword had nothing on a good naginata.

He lost track of time, but eventually he found himself standing in the midst of club regulars on the ground. Wiping the sweat off his brow, someone approached him. Turning around he saw it was Airi.

"Thanks for inviting me to spar. It helped me clear my mind."

She smiled back.

"No problem. You're welcome to the kenjutsu club anytime. That staff of yours is a deadly thing. Some of these guys are gonna need to train harder in order to give you a run for your money."

"Masaki, there are some things we to discuss."

"Let me guess; does it have anything to do with the recent deaths in Tokyo?"

His father glanced up.

"Well, there is that, but as of now, it is not an Ichijou concern. It seems that the Juumonji and Saegusa and handling it; there is also some speculation that the Yotsuba are getting involved. No, there is another piece of information that has a greater relevance to us."

Masaki was handed a stack of papers; he quickly glanced through the contents.

"These weren't with the other reports you told me to read."

"I had to discuss this with you face-to-face."

Masaki read flipped through the pages.

"Are these accurate?"

"We believe so. We know that the scientist that was kidnapped was from First Institute. Their whereabouts are unknown. We believe the perpetrators are from the New Soviet Union, the same group that was responsible for Sado."

He looked up at mention of that battle.

"So...those guys are still active."

"We also know that they have 'Rupture'."

"...What!?"

"That's why I need you to take these guys out. This will be off the books, for the Ichijou clan. We can't have another group using that spell. Who knows what they might do with it? I'm excusing you from school for the next two weeks. For now, get some rest, we'll cover the details tomorrow."

Masaki got up to leave.

"One last thing. This also concerns Kichijouji-san…"

* * *

Kichijouji was surprised that Masaki didn't show up to school; Masaki had never missed a day since the first day of school. He was walking out of the front gates when he spotted him leaning against the wall; he wasn't wearing his uniform.

"What's up?"

Masaki opened his eyes.

"I'm going to be gone for a while. It's Ichijou business."

He proceeded to explain the intel he received and what his father wanted him to do. At the end of it Kichijouji leveled a gaze at his friend.

"Are you supposed to be telling me this?"

"Well, this sort of has to do with you too."

Masaki turned towards him and stared straight into Kichijouji's eyes.

"They kidnapped a researcher from First Institute. But apparently that's not the only scientist they took."

"Kichijouji, our intel says that one of the people they have at that facility is you mother."

* * *

(1) Naginata - Japanese polearm

(2) Wakizashi - Japanese short sword

* * *

**hello again and thanks for reading this.**

**idk where this is going, but this is something of a head canon as to why masaki didnt make an appearance during the visitor arc.**

**most of the new characters are ocs i made for the story, but isshiki airi is a character i took from the mahouka koukou no yuutousei spin-off manga.**

**anyway thanks for reading, constructive criticism is welcome; feel free to review and message me.**

**thanks again, and well see yall next time!**


	3. Chapter 2

Kichijouji stared at the ceiling. It had been hard to estimate how long he had been lying on his bed, but he had been doing this since he arrived at the dorm after school. Inside was a strange turmoil; it was an uncomfortable feeling. He always fancied himself the scientist, the one who looked at everything through the lens of logic. While he would not consider himself emotionless, he had assumed he had better control of them.

_Kichijouji, our intel says that one of the people they have at that facility is your mother._

That statement, that single sentence, had shattered that belief. And so his storm raged on inside of him. His thoughts wandered through time.

_I can't even remember the last thing she said to me._

Kichijouji forced himself to think. To try to remember. An event, a conversation, a face, a touch. It seemed like everything slipped through the cracks. He turned his head to look over at his desk. Amid the stacks of paper on magic theory and frantic notes lying in heaps, a single picture frame stood on the edge. A family. The father was lean, but not unhealthily gaunt. Intelligent eyes stared back at him underneath a clean cut fringe of black hair. The mother was petite; her red eyes had a caring glow about them. The same red eyes as the child sitting in her lap, with the round face and innocent smile.

He felt a memory tickling at the back of his brain. Closing his eyes he envisioned it; he saw the family walking on a beach of pale white sane, waves crashing on the shore. The child held the hands of his parents, happily splashing in the shallows of the sea. A crimson sun illuminating the bright smiles of the mother and father.

The image changed. The skyline darkened. Explosions and gunfire. The mother and father nowhere to be found. A young boy lying under the rubble. All is dark.

A single tear rolled down his cheek, staining the pillow.

* * *

"Will Kichijouji-san be joining you?"

_I hope he's ok. He was silent all the way back to his dorm. Maybe I could have handled that a little more tactfully…_

"He didn't give me a reply, but if I know him, he'll want to come along."

Ichijou Gouki nodded.

"Well, then when he comes, you'll have to fill him in on the details. But for now, we can go over what we know at the moment."

Masaki's father pulled up a map of the New Soviet Union's eastern seaboard closest to Japan. He zoomed in on a city that seemed to be inside the borders of the Great Asian Alliance.

"The facility is here, in Vladivostok. Ever since the world war, Vladivostok has been mostly empty, so it seems that the Sado kidnappers have taken advantage of that and set up their research center here. Seeing that they have 'Rupture', they may be attempting to modify the spell for war purposes; we can assume they are funded by the government of the New Soviet Union even though they claimed not to have been behind the attack on Sado three years ago."

"Vladivostok? Otou-san, according to the map, that city's inside the Great Asian Alliance's borders…"

Hist father's face took an a thoughtful look, and he began absentmindedly tapping on the solid wooden desk.

"Ah, about that. Ever since the GAA lost Liu Yunde, their standing in the global power balance has decreased immensely. The Soviets took the opportunity to take back some land they lost during WWIII. This also makes for a tricky situation; even though it is in the hands of the Soviets, it is still technically GAA land. If we make too much commotion over there and draw the attention of the GAA military, they may see this as another cause for attacking...although they might not given the presence of Itsuwa Mio or the elusive unregistered Strategic-class, Ooguro Ryuuya, here in Japan. Still, it is best to proceed with caution, and not give them an excuse to act. Ichijou will not be to blame for starting another global conflict."

His father tapped a few commands into the keyboard and a holographic model of a building came to life on the terminal on top of the desk.

"The facility itself is quite impressive. Most of it is underground, but it seems they took no small measure of precaution. It seems like the place was designed as to be a maze; there are lock-down doors at every hallway intersection and all the walls are reinforced steel."

He pointed out a few places in the facility that were of special interest.

"Each hallway is equipped with the standard audio/visual cameras, but what you need to look out for are the psion cameras scattered around the building. Those are definitely located near the security center near the bottom of the building, research center at the heart, and the containment unit."

"Your goal will be the main database at the heart of the facility; the prisoners seem to be at the bottom of the whole building, so it's up to you which one to hit first. About ten of the personnel are scientists, but you can assume that each of the fifty people in that building is going to be a soldier or a mage or some combination of both. No match for you, but you'll have to take some measures. I would say not to use magic too openly, and definitely not 'Rupture'; we don't want them knowing Ichijou is behind this.

"You'll have to sneak into the facility and get as far as possible. It is inevitable you will encounter someone eventually, but try to make that as late in the game as possible. After that everything will go into lock-down. Bring a spell that can blast holes in steel, 'Battering Ram' might be good. And also bring your naginata.

"As for other equipment, I managed to acquire two of the JSDF's 101st Mobile Suits. They should work for this mission. The flying unit will be your extraction. You'll have no support after landing; you'll have to get yourself in and out."

Masaki scanned the blueprint of the research center.

"This is going to be interesting...Let me look over it and I'll come up with something."

* * *

The prisoner could only kneel in horror as he waited for the inevitable death at the hands of his captors. His mouth felt like sawdust and tears of terror slipped out of his eyes and rolled down the side of his cheek dropping onto his stained and torn clothes. He closed his eyes, mind flashing through a few comforting memories before the end.

When the end came, it came terribly. It felt as all of his insides were being ripped apart, his blood boiled inside of their veins and arteries, an awesome pressure on every single inch of his body. He could feel some of them bursting, and parts of his body bloated unnaturally.

The prisoner slumped to the ground, his life force ebbing away due to massive internal hemorrhaging. Death was slow, and he would twitch every few seconds or draw a ragged breath. Eventually the light in his eyes faded and he lay still.

"Ivan, you messed up again!"

"Hey it's not my fault the spell isn't perfect! I checked the CAD settings and it was fine! Yefrem's sequence isn't working!"

"You two stop arguing."

The two spun around at the sound of the commanding voice. The man to whom it belonged two was equally large; the air seemed to thicken at his presence in the room.

"Mikhail!"

"Nikita, it's not his fault, we're still working out the kinks. This is only the third test."

Mikhail wrinkled his nose at the corpse lying on the ground. He activated the CAD on his wrist and the body burst into flames. In seconds there was nothing but another black scorch mark next to the other two on the steel surface. He turned to face the two other Russians.

"Nikita, has Ichijou shown any indication of taking our bait?"

"No, but it's only been a few days. Give them another two days; they'll take it. They can't afford not to."

Mikhail smiled slightly.

"Good. Having an Ichijou here at this facility will improve our chances of having that spell up and ready to go."

* * *

"So you're saying we should use the air ducts to get down to the lower levels?"

"Well, it would be the easiest way to avoid the cameras, and they don't seem to be pressure sensitive. Since it seems we're going to be exposed eventually, those are fairly easy to break out of to get into the halls. And the mobile suits will come in handy, with it being heat and shock resistant and all."

Masaki glanced over to Kichijouji. As predicted, he came over to the Ichijou mansion the next day and asked to be included in the mission. He seemed alright for the most part, but he had been unusually sombre, coming up with plans without his usual enthusiasm and explanations. Masaki knew better than to ask what was going on; he knew that anyone would have a hard time grasping the idea that their parents were alive after believing them to be dead for three years. He would talk about it when he was ready.

Masaki looked back down at the blueprints of the facility.

"We're going to be dealing with about fifty people, more than enough to overwhelm the two of us. Also if we're to be handicapped by not using our signature magics, it's going to be quite the fight. Any ideas?"

"Since it's just the two of us, it'll be easier for us to ambush small groups of them. And while we don't have rank-A magics available to us, we still have some pretty lethal rank-B's at our disposal. Unless of course you've mastered 'Muspelheim' behind my back, which I highly doubt. If anything, you wouldn't have to hold back on your regular magic, unlike at Nine Schools."

Masaki pointed to a section that had a psion camera positioned at one end of the hallway.

"How are we going to deal with those? Won't they sense when someone uses magic?"

"Well, there is a fundamental flaw with their cameras. I looked into those things, and while they can pick up psion waves, they can't pinpoint the caster."

Masaki nodded, picking up on what Kichijouji meant.

"So there's no need to hold back since it picks up all psion waves, including their own."

"If anything, it might give us an edge by creating some additional confusion."

Kichijouji looked back over at Masaki.

"And that seems to be the most of the details. You hit the database, I'll handle the cells. This should prove to be quite the trip, Masaki."

Kichijouji smiled slightly; Masaki could tell that it was slightly forced.

"Well, airdrop is in twenty-four hours. Might as well get some rest."

* * *

"How are the mobile suits fitting?"

"Perfect otou-san. How did you ever manage to get the JSDF 101 give these to you?"

Ichijou Gouki's face took on a predatory grin.

"Oh, they just owe me some favors. These are just some of them."

Masaki checked the heads up display inside the helmet; Kichijouji had made some changes to the operating software of the system in order to show the layout of the building, as well as each other's location at all times. Other than that, it seemed the person who had designed it had a good head on their shoulders. He wouldn't mind getting used to wearing this.

The two of them made some final adjustments and made sure all the equipment was secure. A dark red Silver Horn sat in the holster on his right thigh; Masaki had decided to get one after Yokohama, and it had come in useful. His naginata was strapped to his back, easily within reach of his left arm for a quick draw. Kichijouji had a bracelet shaped-CAD in his left wrist and a several dozen throwing knives secured in two straps that ran from each shoulder to the opposing hip; he had become quite proficient in the art.

"We're currently sitting at about seven kilometers," Gouki said, "Their surveillance won't pick up the aircraft or two small objects like you, so you should be going in undetected. Drop in 3 minutes."

"Are you ready for this?"

"Ready as I'll ever be."

Masaki closed his eyes, focusing. The three minutes passed slowly. This would be his first Ichijou mission outside of Japan. He heard the bay doors open.

"Drop is a go. Good luck."

Masaki turned to his best friend. Nodding to each other, they grabbed the other's hand, ran towards the exit and leaped out of the helicopter into the black of night.

* * *

Mikhail stood behind Yefrem, who was seated before the monitor in the central control room.

"How's the sequence looking?"

"It's getting less convoluted. It seems like that scientist wasn't so useless after all. From this point onward it should get easier. We may not even need Ichijou, but you can't be too careful."

"I think the hard part now is finding someone able to use this spell. We've already tried everyone here, and no one seems to have the interference strength or psion reserves for this thing. Admittedly, its a massive activation and magic sequence."

"Surely someone of the Blood could use this thing. Zhestakova? Or maybe Emskikh. One of them has to have a magician that can use this. We definitely need to find someone. Ever since the GAA's fall at Yokohama, Japan has gained a new foothold in the global distribution of power with their unregistered Strategic-class. With this, we'll be able to fill that empty spot in the Thirteen Apostles with another one of our own."

A section of the monitor came to life.

"Mikhail, we've detected two unidentified bodies falling towards us at terminal velocity. They'll be here in less than two minutes."

"Got it. Get the plan running. It's Ichijou, right on time. Is Fyodor up there?"

"Yea, as well as Daria. They're ready to go on the signal"

"Hit them when they're within two kilos. Is there a heli up there too?"

"Yea, it's about seven kilos up."

"Blow it out of the sky. That should keep them distracted for a while."

"Got it boss."

"I'm counting on you Ivan."

Mikhail's face remained impassive. He hit the intercom.

"It begins now."

* * *

The wind whistled past Kichijouji. Well, he couldn't actually hear the wind, but he could tell with the way he was screaming towards the ground at terminal velocity. Masaki was right beside him, body straight as an arrow.

_I'm coming okaa-san._

As he approached the earth, he became vaguely aware of psions in the vicinity; the sensation intensified as the magic came into his view.

_SHIT!_

He angled his body to the slightly to the side to barely avoid a direct hit from the spell.

_How did they know we were coming?_

His eyes widened as he became aware of a hailstorm of the same incantation hurtling towards them.

He felt Masaki deploy his Interference Armor to surround the two of them in a protective shell. The spells shattered upon contact.

_Too close._

Just as the psions dispersed, another object came flying towards them. This however, was a very physical object. The two broke apart as the object whipped past them.

_That wasn't meant for us!_

Kichijouji barely managed to spin his back towards the ground to see the missile strike the helicopter.

* * *

Ivan dropped his hand. 'Infinity Line' had worked it would appear.

_No harm in being sure._

Ivan positioned himself behind the solid cylinder of tungsten, which was pretty much a kinetic missile. Ivan activated 'Infinity Line' again and the missile shot off towards the helicopter. It was a surefire hit. The thing was almost moving at Mach 2, and he never missed.

Daria and Fyodor were still trying to snare the two magicians, but it seemed that their Interference Strength was too much for the two.

_No matter. Even if they do manage to land and it comes down to a fight…_

_We won't lose._

* * *

**hi again.**

**well heres the next chapter of the story. more screen time for the sado people. yay russians! always seems like japans its own little bubble lol.**

**my friend and i were discussing how terrible the geopolitics in mahouka are, but hey, i tried.**

**i think we'll finally get to see some action next chapter. ill try not to make up too many new magix but coming up with stuff is pretty interesting.**

**ill cut my rambling here. any ideas and comments are welcome; feel free to review/message!**

**thanks for reading this and well see yall in the next chapter!**


	4. Chapter 3

Masaki and Kichijouji landed forcefully on the top of the building and were instantly engaged by three magicians. The spells used were unfamiliar to them, but they put up a hell of a fight. Before they had even touched down, six knives had left Kichijouji's hand, two for each enemy. All of them were intercepted. The female deployed a barrier that deflected the knives, one of the men used his fists to knock them away and the last actually snatched the knives out of the air and hurled them back. It was evident that all of them were proficient in not only magic but martial arts as well. Masaki's naginata took two of them by surprise, but one of them managed to escape, smashing a hole in the rook with his heel and dropping through.

They had made their way down the same hole and decided to use the hallways already since they had already engaged in combat. They hadn't encountered any other enemies until they had reached a hallway intersection. It appeared that the spell usage had changed; the magic turned from incapacitation to deadly in nature.

_What I wouldn't give to be able to use 'Phalanx' right about now._

Kichijouji and Masaki were positioned behind two corners that opened up into a hallway, taking shelter behind the steel walls. They were being kept at bay with a mix of elemental magic and a barrage of metal pellets, though strangely they could not pick up the sound of gunfire.

_Must be related to the spell that launched that kinetic missile at Gouki-san. _

Masaki activated a magic on his CAD, resting the muzzle against the edge of the wall, allowing him to launch the sequence without exposing himself to enemy fire. The air suddenly increased several degrees in temperature and Kichijouji felt an explosion rock the other end of the hallway. Static seemed to fill the air, but the mobile suit protected the two from the blast. Kichijouji glanced Masaki's way and spoke into the helmet mic.

"I thought you said you couldn't use 'Muspelheim' yet."

"I never said that; you assumed. No time for that. Let's go."

_What a mess. _

The two stepped into the hallway. Masaki had his naginata in his left hand and the CAD in the right. Kichijouji checked the heads up display inside the helmet.

"Data center is three floors down and the holding cells are five floors down. They know we're here, and it seems they know we're from the Ichijou. What do we do now? Our original plan is out of the question."

Masaki studied the layout. The look in his eyes indicated that he had come to a decision.

"Change of plans. I'll take point. You hit the data center, wipe everything. I'll go to the bottom."

* * *

"The Ichijou kid is good. Very interesting of him to use that spear. We weren't expecting that."

"So what are we going to do about them?"

Mikhail turned to exit the control room.

"I want to deal with him myself. I haven't had a good fight in a long time."

"And the other guy, he seems to be coming here. You want him alive or dead?"

"If the Ichijou took the bait completely, you'll want to talk to that kid. He's a genius I hear; they said he discovered a Cardinal Code. It's up to you."

* * *

Masaki dashed through the hallways, navigating the maze by keeping the map of the facility in the corner of his eye. He had split with Kichijouji a while back to each of their individual destinations.

_Keep safe George._

A shadow dropped from the ceiling, Masaki spun and activated 'Rupture' without thinking. The figure burst into a shower of red. While the assailant was dealt with, the small canister he was holding continued on its trajectory, unaffected by the fluid-targeting 'Rupture'. Masaki's eyes widened.

_Shit! No time to activate a self-acceleration or movement on it._

Masaki closed his eyes and braced himself. Hopefully the suit would take the brunt of the blow. The grenade detonated and his body was flung against the heat and shock were absorbed by the suit, leaving Masaki with only a mild sensation of hitting a wall.

_These suits really are good. I hope otou-san will let me keep it after this mission._

* * *

The door to the room was blasted off its hinges and clattered to the ground. Kichijouji stepped into the room; the dim lighting made it difficult to see the rooms furnishings, and a bright screen shone piercingly into his eyes, further preventing him from seeing anything but the display. He warily made his way to the center of the room.

Walking over to the screen, he noticed that strings of characters streamed across the screen. To the casual observer, it would look like gibberish, but to a magician…

_This...is a magic sequence? _

His eyes scanned through the seemingly endless lines of code; he began to pick up a subtle pattern to the sequence. He felt like he had seen certain parts of it before. The more he sifted through the characters, the more certain he became.

_This looks like...It can't be…_

"It's not 'Rupture' if that's what you were wondering."

Kichijouji spun around at the booming voice reverberating throughout the steel chamber; the darkness concealed its owner.

"While it's not 'Rupture', the magic sequence you're looking it is heavily based off of it."

Kichijouji flung several daggers in the direction he felt the voice coming from, but the clangs of metal on metal told him he his knives not hit anything.

"No, what we have created here is something far more powerful than 'Rupture'. We have made something that few people in the world possess - a Strategic-class magic."

A slim, young man with crystal blue eyes walked into the pool of light that the monitor cast.

Or more accurately, walked down the wall towards the floor. He stopped, standing perpendicular to the wall and parallel to the floor about 8 meters off the ground. His head was tilted slightly in Kichijouji's direction.

"Ah, where are my manners. I am known as Yefrem, lead researcher at this facility."

Without thinking, Kichijouji threw three daggers upward augmented with Move-type magic to accelerate them beyond human capability. Flying a few meters diagonally, they made a sudden sharp turn upward and flew vertically. An echoed clatter from the ceiling told him that the daggers had hit a surface, but curiously they did not fall towards the ground.

_Why didn't it work!? They flew _upward_?!_

"Nice try Kichijouji Shinkurou, or should I say, Cardinal George…but you mustn't assume that you Japanese are the pinnacle of magecraft."

The man looked thoughtful.

"I was looking forward to conversing with your friend, but it seems I will have to settle for you instead."

The man leaped perpendicularly off the wall. His trajectory changed suddenly and he landed on the floor.

_It's as if gravity isn't pointing downwards…_

"I can see that you're trying to figure out what I've done," the man intoned, "I specialize in Movement-type magics. Here I've simply created different fields of gravity in this room. The acceleration vector due to gravity is now pointing in different directions all around the room. Of course, it's simple for me to know where things will fall as created the field lines...you however will have more trouble."

The man's eyes narrowed.

"This should prove to be an interesting fight. After all, I can't let you leave after you've seen our masterpiece."

* * *

Masaki leapt off the railing.

Momentarily suspended in the air, he dispatched the three guards stationed on the last floor of the building with a quick succession of 'Rupture'. Spinning, he took out a fourth with an unbridled 'Bias Release', crushing them against the wall and the fifth with a deft swing of the naginata.

Surveying his handiwork, he grimaced internally. Even after killing countless times, he never got over the feeling of taking another person's life. He forcefully suppressed his unease. There were things at hand that needed to be done. He had come to find Kichijouji's mother.

Ignoring the bodies on the ground, he scanned the rest of the basement. Other than his handiwork, the surfaces seemed spotless aside from what appeared to be several curious scorch marks on the ground.

_There._

Activating 'Multi-Scope', he found a hallway behind one of the steel panels that lined the room. 'Battering Ram' made short work of the surface revealing a darkened hallway; the end of it was lit, so it looked like a tunnel leading out of a cave.

He could tell there were no people hidden in the darkness so he strode straight into the mouth of the darkness and emerged on the other side. A dozen or so doors ringed the medium sized room. It appeared all were empty. He walked past each cell, checking for prisoners. No sign of life.

Turning around Masaki came face-to-face with a tall, well muscled man. He had a commanding aura about him.

"Where is she?"

The man turned and began to circle the room.

"I'm not quite sure what you're talking about."

"Stop bullshitting. You know."

The man stopped and turned towards Masaki.

"We don't have her Ichijou; it was a ploy, one that we knew your friend couldn't resist. Yefrem will enjoy picking his brain. Even if we had who you were looking for, she's long gone. We've used all our prisoners in our...experiments. You however…"

The man spat on the ground.

"I will enjoy our _discussion_. After that fiasco, I waited for the day to see you in battle again. The _Crimson Prince_ in all his finery."

A dangerous glint shone in the depths of those pitch-black irises. The man opened his arms.

"What are you waiting for _boy_? Do you need to be invited to use that skill of yours, Ichijou?"

Masaki raised the pistol-shaped CAD. And pulled the trigger.

And nothing happened.

_Tch. Not many people have the interference strength to activate Zone Interference and Data Fortification to match my power._

Masaki was half expecting that 'Rupture' wouldn't work on this opponent, so he immediately activated a self-acceleration on himself and attacked with the spear.

But it would appear that the man wasn't out of tricks yet. Shards of metal flew towards Masaki, causing him to curse and swerve out of the path of the projectiles. Most of the pieces of metal embedded themselves in the metal sheet, but he was unable to avoid a few of the shards. He could feel the metal shred into the shock-proof mobile-suit.

_How is a simple move-type magic able to do that!? I barely felt him activate that!_

"I come from a family well-versed in engraving magic on metal. They call us the 'Metalminds'. A simple sequence is enough for one of our metals to move where we need them to. Pushes and pulls.

Masaki crouched to the ground, now on the defensive, several pieces of steel protruding from the suit; the metal hadn't penetrated through all the layers of his suit thankfully, leaving his skin intact.

The man just stood there, arms crossed.

"You Japanese, thinking you're all high and mighty. Especially you 'Ten Master Clans' people."

That last name practically dripped with venom. The man extended his hand, and the shards of metal flew back into his hand. He held his palm up, and the metal swirled in a vortex hovering in the middle of his palm.

"Well, just as you have your Numbers, we have the 'Krov'. 'Those of the Blood'. They are the elite of Russian magicians."

The man paused.

"And unfortunately for you, you're facing one of them right now. Quite the matchup. Blood versus Number. Who will win? I already know the answer. And I have more than a few surprises for you _Ichijou_."

Smashing his fist into the floor, the steel did not break but rather seemed to ripple as the hand submerged and retracted gripping something. In his adversary's hand was a saber of pure steel. Throwing his left hand behind him, his opponent seemed to _push_ off the wall and rocketed towards Masaki, blade already swinging.

* * *

Kichijouji crashed into the ceiling. He tried pushing himself off the surface, but he ended up falling into another field and flying towards the wall.

_Curse these gravitational fields!_

He braced his right arm for impact but the field changed yet again slamming him into his left side. While those blows might have seriously bruised him, his protective suit was taking the brunt of the impact, rendering them into mere annoyances. But that wasn't as alarming as the fact that he hadn't managed to land a single hit on his adversary. His several attempts at activating a sequence all ended in an interruption or deflection; he had come to a conclusion.

His enemy was toying with him.

After being the top of the top at Third High and the Magic Research Community, there were few circumstances in which Kichijouji was the lesser party. As much as he realized the danger he was in facing a superior opponent, he was also frustrated that he had been outmatched in wits and skill.

_This isn't over yet!_

Fighting his sense of disorientation, he crouched low to the surface of the wall and activated 'Invisible Bullet', his signature spell. The action was greeted with the same response as the first few times he had tried it, with Yefrem shielding his body with a spherical shell of darkness to prevent visual confirmation of the target necessitated by 'Invisible Bullet's' use.

However Kichijouji was expecting that. In addition to 'Invisible Bullet', we had thrown a single knife, concentrated with as much Movement and Speed-type magic he could muster and pouring it into the single dagger with hopes of it reaching his target through the altered gravitational field.

The throwing knife flew about half the distance between Kichijouji and Yefrem, the knife visibly bobbing as it flew through different gravitational fields. Then it veered off the path and took a steep nosedive, clattering to the floor.

Kichijouji grit his teeth in frustration. Yefrem had dispersed the cloak of darkness and fired off a stream of light while running down the left adjacent wall. With the waves of energy rolling off of the beam, he knew it would kill him if he stood in its path; he rolled out of the way and dived straight into another group of field lines. He felt his body accelerate towards the other side of the room but he caught a glance of the beam disintegrating part of the wall panel.

'Balefire'. He didn't know much about the spell other than it was deadly. It appeared the beam wasn't affected by his tricky field lines. If his opponent had use of _that_ sequence, then their danger level just increased.

Kichijouji could feel his body being whipped through multiple different fields, and before he knew it, he had landed on the adjacent wall on his feet. He barely had time to register the act before another stream of 'Balefire' was making its way towards him. Midway through his flight through the fields, the thought hit him.

_I didn't crash into the wall._

That train of thought gave him an idea on how to beat his opponent. He would have little time however.

* * *

Mikhail was enjoying himself.

For the first time in what felt like forever he had the opportunity to go all-out on a opponent. And not just any opponent. Someone of the globally renown "10 Master Clans". He would relish this fight. He would show the world the magic power that was Russia.

Mikhail threw his metallic shards straight onto the floor and _pushed_ off of them, flipping over Masaki parrying his few strikes and landing on the other side, allowing him to get a few strikes of his own. His opponent activated a self-acceleration sequence, allowing him to move inhumanly fast.

_This is too fun to end yet._

Mikhail felt toward the wall with his mind and _pulled_, accelerating his own body out of the the reach of the boy's lance.

The key to his family's magic lay in two parts. First and foremost, the engraving greatly aided in the use of the metals. It allowed them to physically manipulate the pieces, from throwing to retrieving to reshaping. Secondly was the type of metal. Interestingly enough, only certain metals could be manipulated with ease. Iron was most easily brought towards oneself. It was akin to the sensation of bringing something towards oneself. Ironpull. A certain alloy of Iron, a specific mixture of steel was easily sent away, like moving farther away from the metal. Steelpush. His shards of metal were half iron and half steel, allowing them to be manipulated how he wanted; pushes and pulls. This magic could arguably be classified as a Superpower.

Mikhail activated his own self-acceleration then pushed off the steel walls, bringing him back within striking range. His saber met lance and he and the boy traded blows almost without thought.

_He's very impressive with that lance of his. Time to change it up a bit._

Catching the butt of the lance with his own blade, Mikhail took the opportunity to plunge his other hand into the metal floor and draw forth another blade.

_Can you keep up?_

* * *

Masaki whirled his naginata in a flurry of blows. When his adversary pulled the second blade out of the ground, the fighting style subtly shifted. Dual wielding was almost never helpful. In fact it was usually a hindrance; not many had the mind or control to manipulate two weapons at once. Masaki blocked a slash coming in diagonally from his right side and his opponent directed a jab towards his midsection. He spun behind the shaft of his spear and deflected the jab towards the right as well. He directed a kick towards his opponents unprotected left side but a flash of metal caused him to pivot away.

_Damned flying metal._

That would be the trick to get around. Masaki was clearly a slightly better lancer than the other man was a swordsman, but those pieces of metal floating around balanced out the scales.

_Get past those and you win._

He would have to think quickly; he could feel exhaustion creeping into his movements. Every moment spent crossing blades decreased his chances of making it out of this alive.

* * *

Kichijouji carefully sidestepped Yefrem's 'Balefire'. He had somehow miraculously ended up back on the floor, and he was about ready to put the plan into action.

The entire reason for the imbalance in the fight between him and his adversary was related to the fact that the changing gravitational fields prevented him from finding his orientation to press an attack.

An advantage related to the battlefield.

Kichijouji intended to change that.

_Since I don't know where the field lines are, I can't ready an assault. Time to find out where exactly they are._

Kichijouji took out a dagger and threw it in an arbitrary direction. It flew horizontally, the veered to the left and up finally crashing into a corner. He repeated this action several more times, watching where each dagger flew and landed, mentally creating a map of the direction of gravity in the room, dodging and rolling when necessary.

An incoming magic caused him to act.

_Well, hope this works._

He jumped in a direction he remembered the path the dagger took. He felt his body move in the same way he saw the knife move and he landed feet first on the opposite wall. He sighed in relief. But relief was short-lived. He rolled into another field and landed on the opposite wall then dived into a field he knew would take him back to ground-level.

_Almost out of knives. Time to spring the trap._

Kichijouji activated a self-acceleration spell and ran straight towards his opponents location.. Yefrem just stood there smirking, expecting the Kichijouji to just be swept into a different direction.

What he didn't expect was for Kichijouji to throw a dagger straight into the air.

Kichijouji felt his body being lifted into the air and flung around. While Yefrem watched him helplessly flail in the air, he didn't notice the throwing knife soar around into different fields.

He never knew what hit him.

The dagger flew in from the side and impaled Yefrem on the temple. Instantly gravity returned to normal and Kichijouji was hurled back to the ground.

The body collapsed onto the cold steel floor.

* * *

Masaki knocked the sword in his opponents left hand away, sending it spinning through the air. He followed up with a blow from the butt of his naginata to his adversary's abdomen. His opponent moved backwards at an inhuman rate causing his attack to strike air. He was forced to duck and roll to avoid his opponents swing when he rebounded suddenly and pressed the attack.

He activated a move-type magic to spring off the floor and ricochet off the wall back towards his opponent, narrowly avoiding shards of metal that struck the floor where he was moments ago.

_How to get rid of the metal?_

The few times he got close to the shards, he could see runes inscribed in the pieces, indicating that was probably part of the reason why his opponent could manipulate them so easily.

_If only I could mess with the inscriptions…_

An idea immediately popped into his head. It was extremely risky, given that he would have to rely on his suit to protect him. And if his suit had to shield him, he had to do something about that tear in it he got from the beginning of the fight.

_Well, it didn't rip through the suit, so hopefully I'll get out of this unscathed._

He made up his mind. It was his only option at the moment.

Masaki accelerated himself towards his opponent, naginata point first. His opponent was on the other side of the room, giving him a few moments to react. His opponent raised his palms toward Masaki and the metal flew towards him. Exactly what he needed.

Before the metal struck, Masaki activated 'Muspelheim', not on his opponent but on the air immediately surrounding himself. The temperature soared and Masaki felt the suit strain to contain the heat. But it had achieved its desired effect.

The pieces of metal melted midair. Not enough to completely destroy them, but enough to distort the inscriptions on them. The pieces of metal dropped to the ground.

Masaki cut 'Muspelheim' and continued towards the other man. He brought his naginata up.

_Time to finish this._

With no metal to push, his opponent had no choice but to engage Masaki. With only one sword left, Masaki quickly forced him on the defensive.

Whirls and slashes pushed his opponent towards a corner. Masaki knocked his opponents weapon out of his hand.

"Who's the better magician now?"

His opponent snarled.

"You may have won this fight, but you can't stop what's coming. We already have what we need."

Masaki felt the entire room shake. Spinning he saw the steel panels of the room rip off and accelerate towards that corner. He barely dodged out of the way as the panels crashed into the corner, crushing his opponent into the wall. But the walls kept collapsing.

_The building's coming down!_

Masaki activated the flying-CAD and dashed upward.

"George! We need to go NOW!"

* * *

In the setting sun, Masaki made his final rounds around the school building. After that mission in Vladivostok, things mostly returned to normal. The helicopter that had been shot at turned out fine. His father had activated a counter spell to deal with the missile. George had done his best to delete the files, but they had been sent off to somewhere else. His father's intelligence had been tracking it down, but according to George, the spell looked so complex that only a BS magician might be able to use it. They could only hope.

As he made his way towards the front of the building, he spied a lone figure sitting on the front steps of the school building. George.

Masaki made his way over to his friend and sat down next to him. There was silence for a few moments then Kichijouji spoke.

"I guess it was a little naive of me to think that I would get to see my mother again."

Masaki didn't answer for a bit.

"How are you feeling?"

Kichijouji leaned back.

"I think I'm feeling better. I've come to terms with myself."

He turned towards Masaki.

"I need to stop looking back and start looking forward."

He put a hand on his friend's shoulder.

"I'm glad to have a friend like you, Masaki."

Kichijouji stood up and dusted his uniform off. He held a hand out to Masaki.

"After last week, I think we deserve a long-needed break. I miss being a regular high schooler. Let's hit the coffee shop. My treat."

A smile crept into Kichijouji's features. Masaki grinned back and took his hand.

* * *

**and i think thats it for this story.**

**i think that turned out ok, though it could be better. sorry if it didnt live up to expectation; i know some of yall wanted to see some masaki x miyuki or something. maybe ill do a rewrite some other time or just write something else.**

**also, if youve read robert jordans wheel of time or brandon sandersons mistborn trilogy, you mightve noticed i kinda took some stuff from them; disclaimer: i dont own either and all credit belongs to their respective owners. i just thought some of the ideas were interesting and incorperated them into this. **

**anyway, thanks for taking the time to read through this; any and all support is really encouraging!**

**reviews and messages always welcome! once again, thanks for reading!**


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